After the fatal accident in the ice channel, the luge track in Oberhof is completely closed for the current season with immediate effect. On Thursday evening, a 45-year-old man died in the ice track, which is also used by recreational athletes.
After the fatal accident on the bobsleigh and luge track in Oberhof, all track operations in the current season will be stopped with immediate effect. This was announced by Hartmut Schubert, chairman of the Thuringian winter sports center special purpose association. On Thursday evening, a 45-year-old man died in the ice channel in the Thuringian Forest, which is also used by recreational athletes. A 41-year-old woman was seriously injured.
According to the previous investigations, a guest bobsleigh had run into two hose rings, so-called ice tubes, in the finish area. The man who was killed is said to have been in one of these hose rings, with which laypeople can also use the railway. A “no longer active” professional had steered the four-man bob, as the Thuringian bobsleigh and bobsleigh association (TSBV) announced: “The name and other information may not be published, this has been agreed with the bobsledder’s legal representative.”
The association was “dismayed” by the incident. “We are in shock. Our thoughts and sympathy are with the family and relatives of the deceased. As the operator and owner of the railway, we will work fully and with full transparency with the investigative authorities to clarify this accident,” said Schubert.
On Friday morning it became known that the Thuringian State Secretary Torsten Weil was also in the four-man bobsled. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture. The other passengers of the left-wing politician were an employee of the ministry and an employee of Thuringia Forest.
